If you are facing stress you are not alone. And you know that if you don’t deal with it, it will take a toll on you. Let it run loose and it can lead to anxiety, depression or health issues.

But you can take control of stress.

You could be one simple decision away from putting stress in its place. Are you making any of these mistakes?

1. You don’t practice selective procrastination

When you are bombarded with problems you tend to lose the ability to prioritize. Suddenly paying your credit card bill is as important as replying to your distant aunt’s comment in facebook. You need to do everything right now. Or at least that’s what your mind is telling you.

If you are going through that you need to stop, take a big breath and set priorities on your to-do list. Otherwise sooner or later the important things, like your mortgage bill, will fall through the cracks.

2. You tell those around you how stressed you are

Sharing your situation is going to help you find a way out but only if you share it with the right people. A few of your friends may be able to help you understand better what you are going through and how to get out of the hole. However many of the people you talk with will only offer you their pity, tell you about their problems and probably leave you more discouraged.

Be selective regarding who you confide your situation with. Before you tell someone your problem ask yourself, can this person help me find a solution or peace?

3. You put in a solid eight, ten or more hours of work

Yes, you have to catch up. What better way to do that than to avoid taking breaks, power through and get things done? If you avoid taking time to stop, rest, and recharge you’ll be compounding on the exhaustion. You may carelessly reply to an email in a rush only to receive ten replies requesting clarification, details, or changes.

Try to avoid exhaustion and more problems by scheduling breaks during the day to rest and recharge.

4. Your mind is focused on the wrong things

If your mind tends to concentrate on problems and the negative things in your life, it will be hard to find solutions. You’ll feel discouraged and with less energy to overcome problems.

Focus on the solution instead of the problem and you’ll find it much faster. Then you’ll be on your way to control stress.

5. You decide to go with the flow

Corny but failing to plan is planning to fail. Just like you wouldn’t go on a vacation without making a list of things to pack, places to visit and where to stay, you shouldn’t attempt to get out from under stress without a plan.

What is causing the stress? What are you going to do to solve it? What are you going to stop doing to eliminate stress? No, you don’t need an elaborate ten page plan but you need to come out with a few good ideas.

6. You’re not living in the present

Do you ever wonder and end up with the worst possible scenario? Your kid may be a few minutes late from school and there goes your mind”¦ His bus was in a crash. He could be in the hospital. What are you going to do? Five minutes later he walks through the door, he met one of his buddies and spent a few minutes chatting with him.

It will take some effort but you need to recognize your worry cycles and stop them. It’s in your power to do it. Replace them with positive thoughts and thoughts of peace.

7. You think you don’t have time to recharge

Do you normally meditate, pray or journal? You may feel like you don’t have time to do that when you are under stress. The logical reaction is to stop doing those activities. However when you are under stress it’s the worst time to stop your alone time routine.

Decide that your mental sanity is extremely important to you and you won’t miss your alone time for the sake of a few extra minutes to work on your to-do list.

It’s easy to get sucked into problems and stressed.

But if you want to live a happy, healthy and fulfilling life; you have to stop damaging stress cycles.

Did you identify any mistakes which may be adding to your stress?

Decide to stop them. Decide you’ll get out of this hole fast. Decide you’ll conquer stress.